Pandemic: Resident Evil VI

Chapter Thirty Five: Coach Class

Lanshiang Airspace, China

June 30th, 2013

Jolted awake by a high pitch shriek, Leon Kennedy quickly looked around while reaching for his pistol that wasn't there… only to sigh with relief when it was discovered that the noise came from not someone in danger, but a little kid reacting to the in-flight movie. Most of the other passengers were wearing headphones as well, while a few like Helena Harper in the seat next to his, were sound asleep. It was for the best that everyone minded their own business, since the Agent was sure that Simmons had placed him and his new partner on the most wanted list by now… God, what a mess.

He wasn't sure how Hunnigan managed it, especially with all of the new supervision placed on DSO headquarters, but the operator had gotten them new ID's and tickets on the next available flight to the same place where the Security Advisor had fled to in China, all of which were waiting for them in a passenger locker at Boston Logan International Airport. Since he and the young woman were traveling undercover as civilians, there was no way to carry any weapons onboard, so the two of them were going unarmed as well… Hunnigan said that one of her contacts was supposed to meet them there with supplies, and… hopefully he showed up.

Helena woke up for a moment, trying in vain to stretch out in the cramped amount of space between Leon and the sleeping passenger on the other side of her. Usually government agents who had to fly on civilian planes were put in First Class, like during his assignment to Spain, however, this time they were trying to be invisible… and where better to go unnoticed than being packed into the Coach Class section of a 747? There had to be a hundred people in each area of seating, so yeah, not likely to be noticed.

The young woman was asleep again, this time leaning heavily onto Leon's shoulder so that he had to tilt his body the opposite way… good thing he was lucky enough to get an aisle seat. Given that they were both wanted for the President's death now, there was no point in trying to turn her in for the part she played, both because the Agent understood her circumstances, and because hunting Simmons down in China was not a task that he was eager to pull off alone. So until the end of this nightmare, the two of them were partners, whether they liked it or not… and Leon didn't like her very much.

He had worked with worse, hell way worse, like Amanda Pricely, his assigned partner during the Starlight Incident, and Ashley Graham in Spain… so he supposed that Helena wasn't so bad comparatively, and at least she was nice to look at. No, absolutely not, this time the Agent was going to make a point of not pursuing a relationship of any kind with anyone that was involved in his mission. It didn't work with Claire in Raccoon City, it didn't work with Cora on the Starlight, and Ashley… man, he still couldn't believe that she dumped him like that, after everything that Leon had gone through to save her life, and putting up with her annoying voice, and…

Forcing the thoughts from his mind before he got upset again, the Agent looked around for something else to focus on, starting with a scan of the passengers, boring, and then looking over at the screen showing the in-flight movie up front. It looked like one of those Harry Potter movies, yeah he recognized the kid playing him… although personally he was starting to think that the cast in general were getting a bit old for the roles, so Leon continued looking around the plane for something to distract him while Helena snored in his ear, and… and damn, speaking of something nice to focus on…

Up ahead at the end of the aisle, one of the stewardesses was starting to bring the snack cart through, which was nice because the Agent had slept through most of the flight and was getting pretty hungry. She was walking backwards toward him, stopping at every row and passing out sodas and pretzels and the like, but my God she looked hot in that uniform. The way her dark hair was up in a bun just underneath the hat, the tight fitting skirt that made her ass look amazing, and the heels she was wearing made the stewardess's legs look even more toned than they already were.

Hey, this random stewardess wasn't part of the mission, so the rule about no relationships didn't count in this case, and… and he just watched her stopping row by row, and smirking a little while hoping that she would lean over him in that same way when she got there. Were these thoughts a bit perverted? Sure, but Leon had seen how women perved over guys like Chris Hemsworth in that Thor movie, so he didn't want to hear it. Not that anyone could hear his thoughts, and… oh wow, the stewardess was even wearing some really nice smelling perfume when she finally got to his row.

"Hi, Leon." She said in a happy, overly peppy voice while picking up a soda. "Here's a Pepsi for my favorite passenger, and I know you don't like peanuts, so here's some pretzels, and… your girlfriend looks tired, so I'll just let her sleep. Enjoy your flight."

The Agent had nearly fainted upon hearing the stewardess's voice, and when she leaned over him to set his snacks on the tray table in front of him, Leon felt a knot form in his stomach as he looked up just in time for Gillette Liquid to give him a kiss on the cheek. His was the last row before she pulled the snack cart back into the service area of the plane, and now the Agent just sat there for several minutes staring off into space while his mind tried to wrap itself around the fact that she was there… onboard an international flight… with no way for anyone to escape if she caused an outbreak.

What was he going to do? Oh God, what could he do? Leon's breathing was starting to get rapid as panic set in, causing him to absent-mindedly eat the pretzels and soda that was in front of him, and doing so actually helped a little. Okay then, the Agent was no longer hungry, and that was great, leaving only the matter the most dangerous BOW to ever exist being onboard his flight… so again, what could he do about it? Gillette couldn't be fought, and Tobias had spent years destroying every sample of the only weapon to ever hurt her, so… damn it, he had to do something.

"Harper." He whispered, shaking her a little. "Harper, wake up… we're in trouble."

It took a second for the young woman to wake up, but then Leon had to quickly put his hand over her mouth to muffle her outcry of fright after telling her what the problem was. Helena had only seen the tiniest sample of what Gillette could do during their encounters in Tall Oaks, but it had been enough to convince her that they were in a really bad situation. As the young woman looked around, Leon could tell that she was coming to the same realizations about being trapped as he had done moments before, and their options were extremely limited.

"What are we gonna do, Leon?" Helena asked, looking around again. "All these people… please tell me you have a plan."

"Not really, but there's no choice." The Agent replied. "All right, I need you to sweet-talk your way into the cockpit and tell the Captain she's onboard. Whatever you do, don't let the passengers know that anything's wrong… I'm gonna go talk to Gillette."

The stewardess wasn't interested in infecting him, they both already knew that, but the young woman still didn't like the plan. Too late, he was already getting up to head back into the plane's service area, so Helena nervously got up as well, making her way toward the front of the plane while he passed through the curtain in the doorway. Gillette was there, talking and giggling with a few other women in stewardess uniforms as they had coffee and… and stopped everything they were doing as soon as they noticed him.

"Uh… hi." Leon said, trying to keep calm. "Gillette, I really need to talk to you, so… can we have a minute alone?"

"Oh, it's like that, huh?" One of the other stewardesses replied, playfully elbowing her in the ribs. "Come on, girls, let's give them a minute alone."

The others laughed a little as they left the service area, leaving the Agent a little confused about the things they were saying, but of course Gillette was more than happy to explain while she sipped on her coffee. Apparently, the other stewardesses were discussing which passengers they would be willing to go into the bathroom with if asked, and according to the stewardess, Leon was a pretty popular choice. This was pretty flattering, but that wasn't what the Agent was back there for… hopefully, it wouldn't take too long for Helena to get to the Captain, and… have some kind of a plan put in place.

"Gillette, how did you get out of Tall Oaks?" He asked, trying to think of ways to keep her distracted. "When I saw the blast I thought you were still in the city, and… what are you even doing on this plane?"

"That's sweet, Leon, but you don't have to worry about me." The stewardess answered. "America has a habit of nuking infected cities, so I high-tailed it as soon as I saw the jet coming in, and good thing too, because that blast was big. You do remember how fast I can move when I need to, right?"

Yeah, he remembered… the Agent had only seen it once back when they were fighting off that shape-shifting monster onboard the Starlight, but she had been fast. Well, with Tall Oaks a smoldering crater, Gillette's plans to get into a university doctorate program were put on hold, so she decided to go to China a little earlier than expected. Her ticket was for another flight, which couldn't be changed to the one she saw Leon and Helena getting ready to board, so she decided to influence her way into being a flight attendant the same way that she had gotten herself top-billing on the Starlight's main stage.

"I've always wanted to try being a stewardess." Gillette continued, setting down her empty cup. "It's a lot of fun, and the girls are great, but… just so you know, there's probably a little outbreak happening right now back at Boston Logan, but that's just the world we live in, right?"

"But don't you understand, it doesn't have to be?" The Agent said, taking hold of both her hands. "You don't have to cause outbreaks everywhere you go, you could… uh… we,, I don't really know, but… Gillette, I will do anything you want, just please, please don't infect these people… there's children on this plane."

Leon could no longer hide how upset and scared he was, but then the stewardess stepped forward and hugged him, reassuring the Agent that everything was going to be all right. Even if she wanted to bring everyone on the plane into her family, and she really did, it didn't take an amazing detective like her husband to see that it was a bad idea. After all, they were on an international flight, and if the pilot's degraded into zombies, well… Gillette didn't know how to fly a plane, so she had no choice.

"Oh, thank you, Gillette." Leon replied, actually hugging her back. "Thank you for restraining yourself, this means so much to…

"Leon!" Helena's frightened voice suddenly called over his personal communicator. "Leon, can you hear me?! I'm in the cockpit; you need to get your ass up here right the hell now! We're in trouble!"